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ABRAM DE BAUN. The common ancestor of all the DeBauns in Bergen and Hudson Counties was Joost de Baen, a native of Brussels in Flanders (Belgium), who came over to New Amsterdam in 1683. The next year he married Elizabeth Drabb and located at Bushwick, L. I., where he was soon afterward made town clerk. In 1686 he removed to New Utrecht, where he was elected town clerk and taught the village school. This was during the controversy over the conduct of Governor Leisler. De Baen entered that contest and took an active part against the Governor, which caused him to lose his clerkship. He, however, continued to teach school and to reside at New Utrecht, where he took the oath of allegiance to the English king in 1687. Early in 1704 he sold his lands, of which he acquired a considerable area, and removed to Bergen County, N. J., where he joined the Kinderkamack settlement. He died in 1718 or 1719. His children of the second generation were Matie (married, in 1705 (?), David Samuels Demarest), Christian (married Judith Samuels Demarest), Mayke, Carrel, Christina, Jacobus, and Maria.

Of these seven children, Carrel (Charles), (2) married, in 1714, Jannetie Peters Haring, of Tappan. He first bought a large farm, in 1719, on the north side of Hardenbergh Avenue (now in Harrington ownshi0), extending from the Schraalenburgh road to the Tiena Kill (including part of which is now Demarest), on which for a time he resided. Shortly after 1721 he sold this farm and bought several large tracts between the Hackensack and the Pascack Rivers, on one of which he settled and died. His issue of the third generation were Joost, Margaret, Elizabeth, John, Jacob, Carrel, and Christiaen.

Carrel (3), born in 1728, married (1) Bridget Ackerman (born December 10, 1731, died January 27, 1793) and (2) Lea Van Orden. He was a farmer by occupation, and settled in the upper part of Bergen County. His issue of the fourth generation were Carrel, Margaret, Abram, Jannetie, Andrew, Sarah, David, John, and Isaac.

Isaac de Baun (4) was born December 9, 1779, and died June 18, 1870. He was a farmer and resided nearly all his life at Monsey, N. Y. He married June 13, 1807, Elizabeth Yenry, who died August 24, 1875. Their children of the fifth generation were Abram, Elizabeth, Maria, Bridget, Rachel, Jane, and John Y.

John Y. de Baun (5) was born at Monsey, N. Y., August 22, 1827. He was a remarkably precocious child. Although he had but an ordinary common school education he, by dint of an untiring perseverance and constant application to study, qualified himself for the ministry (which under the circumstances was a rare achievement), and on April 17, 1855, was licensed to preach by the Classis of Hackensack of the True Reformed Dutch Church. His first charge included the churches of Hempstead in Rockland County, N. Y., and at Ramseys in Bergen County, N. J., where he preached alternately until 1860, when he took charge of the two churches at Hackensack and English Neighborhood, N. J. Of these two churches he was the pastor for twenty-six years. During this time he resided at Hackensack, where he established and was the editor of the Banner of Truth, a monthly magazine, which is still the organ of the True Reformed Dutch Church. He died at Leonia, N. J., in February, 1895. He was twice married: (1) April 8, 1849, to Margaret Iserman, who died about 1893, and (2) to Jane Van Houton, who survives him. He was a thoroughly self-made man, an eloquent preacher, and in every way worthy of his high and noble calling. His issue of the sixth generation were Susan E., Martha A., James D., Abram, Edwin, Anna, John Z., James E., and Isaac C., of whom Abram (6) is the subject of this sketch.

Abram de Baun (6) was born April 2, 1856, at Monsey, N. Y., where he spent his childhood days. When old enough he entered Hackensack Academy, where he had the benefit of a full course of study, and then entered the law office of A. D. Campbell, at Hackensack, as a law student. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar as an attorney in June, 1877, and as a counselor in June, 1880. After his call to the bar he became a business partner of his old tutor, with whom he remained until March, 1894, when he formed a law partnership with Milton Demarest, with whom he is still associated in a lucratice [sic] practice.

Mr. De Baun was clerk of the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1878 to 1895 and for three years a member of the Hackensack Improvement Commission, during two years of which he was treasurer. For twelve years he has been counsel for the Hackensack Mutual Building and Loan Association. He is a Director of the Hackensack Old Ladies' Home.

He married (1) in 1878 Mary B. Christie, of Leonia. She died in September, 1881, and he married (2), October 2, 1884, Lydia B. Christie. He has no children.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, pages 138-139.

THE De GROOT FAMILY, still numerous in Bergen and Hudson Counties, are of Holland descent. William Pietersen de Groot came to America in 1662, on board the ship "Hope," with his wife and five children. They were from Amsterdam, Holland. Dirck Jansen de Groot, a native of Rylevelt, in Holland, came to New Amsterdam as a soldier in the Dutch service, on board the ship "Spotted Cow," April 15, 1660, leaving behind him his wife, Grietie Gerrets, and two children. In April, 1663, Dirck's brother, Staats de Groot, who, the ship's register says, was a resident of Tricht, Holland, came to America on the same ship which had brought over his brother. Staats brought over with him his brother's wife and children. Staats married, in 1664, Barbara Springsteen. Dirck and his first wife, Wybrig Jans, resided in New Amsterdam until 1679, when they removed to Flatbush, L. I., where they remained permanently. From Flatbush several of the children removed to Hackensack in 1695-96. Staats first settled at Brooklyn, where the assessment roll of 1675 showed him to be a taxpayer. He was of a roving disposition. In 1678 he was living in Westchester County, N. Y. He next turned up at Bergen, N. J., where, in June, 1678, his second daughter was baptized. While living at Bergen, where many of his relatives lived, he became in 1686 one of the Tappan patentees. He was at New Amsterdam in 1688, and probably never located on his Tappan lands. He died between 1688 and 1704, having deeded or willed his lands to his wife Barbara, who was a daughter of Casparus Springsteen, of Groningen, Holland. His children were Yoost, Neltje, Mary, and Geesie. Yoost settled at Tappan and his descendants spread into Bergen County. The descendants of Dirck and William Pietersen de Groot spread through Bergen County from Bergen and Hackensack, where they settled.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, pages 162-163.

ELMER WILSON DEMAREST is a direct descendant of Jean des Marest (1), a prominent citizen and resident of Beauchamp in the Province of Picardy, France. There, about 1620, was born his son, David des Marest (2), who, upon reaching manhood, espoused the Protestant faith and fled to Holland to escape persecution, locating at Middleburgh on the Island of Walcheron in Zeeland. Here, on July 24, 1643, David married Maria, a daughter of François Sohier, of Nieppe, a town in Hainault. The couple resided at Middleburgh until 1651, when they removed to Manheim on the Rhine River, in the lower Palatinate, then under the protection of the Elector Charles Lewis. At Manheim, the Protestants were already being threatened by the Catholic princes and David des Marest, with others of a like religious faith, determined to go to America for safety. Accordingly, early in the spring of 1663 they journeyed down the Rhine to Amsterdam, where they embarked for New Amsterdam on the ship "Spotted Cow," reaching the latter port on April 16, 1663. Des Marest first went with his wife and three sons to Staten Island, where they joined the Huguenot settlement, recently started. The following year he was elected to represent the settlement in the provincial assembly. The savages proving troublesome, Demarest bought and located on lands at New Harlem, then a name applied to the upper end of Manhattan Island. Here he prospered, acquired several town lots, and became prominent in town affairs. In 1677, a tax having been levied on him for the support of the Dutch Church at Harlem, he refused to pay it, claiming immunity therefrom because he was neither an attendant nor a communicant of the Dutch Church. The "powers that be" sued him for the tax, procured judgment, and proceeded by execution and levy to collect it. This angered Demarest and he determined to leave Harlem. On the 8th of June, 1677, he purchased from the Hackensack and Tappan Indians a large tract (estimated at about 6,000 acres) of land on the east bank of the Hackensack River, extending northward from New Bridge. By subsequent purchase he added an extensive tract west of the Hackensack, on which he built two mills. He built his family residence at what is now Old Bridge and erected a French Church on the east side of the river, a little west of the Schraalenburgh road. The lands he purchased were claimed by several white persons and by the savages. Some of these claims were not extinguished until after his death. He died in New York City in 1693, leaving a will by which he devised all his lands to this two surviving sons, John and Samuel, and to his very numerous grandchildren.

David des Marest, Jr. (3), the second of the emigrant's sons, died in 1691, before the decease of his father. At the time of his death he was residing east of the Hackensack on part of his father's original patent near Schraalenburgh. He was born at Manheim in the lower Palatinate in 1652, and married, April 4, 1675, Rachel, daughter of Pierre Crasson, a French refuse. His occupation was that of a farmer. He had twelve children: David, Peter, Susanna, Rachel, Jacobus D., Samuel, Mary, Daniel, Benjamin, Jacomina, Lea, and Lydia.

Jacobus Davids des Marest (4), the fifth of these, baptized at New York October 3, 1681, married (1) Lea De Groot and (2) Margaretta Cozine Haring. Farming was his principal occupation and he held several township offices. He resided in the Schraalenburgh district and left at his death twelve children, of whom Garret Jacobse Demarest (5), born at Schraalenburgh, June 30, 1725, died there December 17, 1798, married, in 1747, Jacomina (Tunis) Helms. They resided at Schraalenburgh, where Garret pursued the calling of a farmer. His issue were fifteen children, of whom Abraham Garrets Demarest (6) was born at Schraalenburgh, where Garret pursued the calling of a farmer. His issue were fifteen children, of whom Abraham Garrets Demarest (6) was born at Schraalenburgh March 16, 1767, and died there March 18, 1860. He married Margaret Demarest, a relative, born December 3, 1761, died May 16, 1832. Abraham was a farmer and left three children: Garret A., John A., and James A.

John A. Demarest (7), born April 11, 1798, died May 23, 1864, married, in 1818, Jane, daughter of Peter Merseles, born March 3, 1803, died September 22, 1888. He purchased and resided, at the time of his death, on lands at what is now Eastwood, N. J., where, on his death, he left two children: Margaretta J., wife of Albert Z. Ackerman, and Abraham J. Demarest. He was a cattle dealer, purchasing cattle in the west and selling them in New York, under the firm name of Demarest & Grant. He also conducted an importing house of willowware, etc., in New York, and a country grocery store on the farm at Eastwood.

Abraham J. Demarest (8), born at Eastwood, N. J., April 30, 1840, married May 18, 1859, Eliza W., daughter of Jacob G. H. Lozier, of Teaneck, now Englewood. She was a descendant of Peter Wilson, a Scotchman, who held the degree of Doctor of Laws, and was for some time a member of the faculty of Columbia College, New York. Abraham J. followed farming until his father's death, when he removed to Closter, N. J., where he conducted a meat market until 1892, when he retired from business and is now residing at Bayonne, N. J. He has had three children: Nettie Marcella, married Horace Roberson, a lawyer, at Bayonne; Edwin S., died; and Elmer Wilson, the subject of this sketch.

Elmer Wilson Demarest (9) was born at Eastwood, N. J., May 15, 1870. He was educated in the public schools of Closter, N. J., the Rutgers Preparatory School, Rutgers College, and Columbia Law College, graduating from the last named institution as a Bachelor of Laws in 1892. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar as an attorney in February, 1892, and as a counselor in June, 1895, and to practice in the United States Courts in January, 1897. Since his admission he has practiced law in Bayonne and Jersey City, and has been successful in litigations, having conducted a number of important cases. He is counsel for a number of corporations.

He not only stands high in his profession, but is also prominent as a Republican leader, having always affiliated with the Republican party. He has shown great activity in this connection. In 1892 he was a member of the Bergen County Republican Executive Committee. He has been a member and Vice-President of the Hudson County Republican Committee from 1893 to the present time. He is also a Trustee and a member of the Executive Committee of that organization. In 1897 he was elected to the New Jersey House of Assembly, was prominently connected with the equal taxation measure of that year, and conducted the fight in the House for the Voorhees Judiciary Constitutional amendments. He is a member of the New Jersey Athletic Club of Bayonne, of the Newark Bay Boat Club of Bayonne, and of the Palma Club of Jersey City.

On September 9, 1896, Mr. Demarest married Miss Blanche Adeline Bristow, of Bayonne, and they have one child, Kenneth E. Demarest (10) born August 14, 1897.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 64-66.

ROBERT CAMPBELL DIXON, JR., one of the leading architects of Union Hill and Eastern New Jersey, is of English and Scotch parentage, being the son of Robert and Margaret (Campbell) Dixon and a grandson of Robert Dixon, Sr., and Hannah Lawson. His maternal grandparents were John and Isabel (Anderson) Campbell. His father was born in Nicholforest, Cumberland, England, and his mother in Perthshire, Scotland. Some of his ancestors were prominently engaged in the East India service, others filled important positions of trust, one branch had a representative in the English Parliament in the person of Sir Wilfred Lawson, and others occupied posts in the Church of England. The Dixon and Lawson families have been for generations conspicuous in civil, military, governmental, and professional affairs, contributing to their respective communities a wholesome influence, and achieving for themselves distinction as men of learning and ability.

Mr. Dixon was born in New York City on the 15th of May, 1857. He attended the public schools of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., until he reached the age of about fourteen, and afterward pursued his studies in private schools, developing a naturally strong and brilliant intellect, and laying the foundation for an honorable career. He completed his literary education at Riverview Military Academy and finished with a business course, graduating from Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie. A large part of his early education was intended to fit him for a military career, but he turned his attention to architecture, and in the early part of 1876 entered the office of D. & J. Jardine, architects, of New York City, as a student. He continued with them a little over four years, after which he was for a brief period in the office of J. C. Cady & Co. In 1883, having received important work in competition, Mr. Dixon engaged in business for himself as a practical architect, and has ever since been devoted to his profession, achieving marked success and a notable reputation. He has had an office in New York City for about fourteen years, and many important public and private buildings have been erected from his designs. The town hall, the Palma and Columbia Club houses, public schools, many church edifices, and numerous other principal buildings in Union Hill, N. J., have been built by him. All of these show great artistic taste and practical skill, and represent some of the finest and choicest work in the country.

In political matters Mr. Dixon has been an active and influential leader since about 1884, serving frequently as delegate to local and State Democratic conventions, and being at the present time a member of the Board of Education of Union Hill, of which he was formerly President. He is a member and at times served on important committees of the Columbia Club of Hoboken, and has also been a member of the Palma Club of Jersey City for several years. He was one of the organizers of the New Jersey Society of Architects and has held some of its most important offices. He is also an associate member of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the Central Democratic Organization, a warden of Grace Episcopal Church of Union Hill, where he resides, and a member of Columbia Lodge, No. 151, Knights of Pythias. He is a public spirited, enterprising citizen, a man of broad and liberal culture, and is and has been prominently identified, with many of the leading charitable organizations.

Mr. Dixon was married September 22, 1886, to Sadie Gardner Morgan, only daughter of James G. Morgan, of Union Hill, N. J.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, pages 136-137.

ALBERT IRVING DRAYTON, President and General Manager of the New Jersey Title and Abstract Company and one of the leaders of the younger bar of Jersey City, is the son of Henry S. Drayton, M.D., and Almira E. Guernsey, and a grandson of William R. and Mary M. (Shipman) Drayton and of Dr. Henry and Martha J. (Halsey) Guernsey. His paternal great-grandparents were Henry and Mary (Rood) Drayton and Jacob and Mary (Mulford) Shipman, while those on his mother’s side were William and Elizabeth Nancy (Scofield) Guernsey and Rensselaer and Jane Halsey. These names represent some of the oldest families in New Jersey, many of whose members have been prominent in the history of the colony and State, and distinguished in both civil and military life. William Henry Drayton, one of Mr. Drayton’s ancestors, was Chief Justice and Governor of South Carolina in 1776-77 and a member of the Continental Congress in 178-79, and another member of the family was Captain Percival Drayton, an eminent naval commander.

Albert I. Drayton was born in Jersey City on the 14th of August, 1869. He received his preparatory education in the various public and private grammar schools of that city and at the Jersey City High School, and subsequently entered the New York University, from which he was graduated with the class of 188. Determining upon the law as his profession, he was a law student from 1888 to 1891, and in the meantime took a course of lectures at the Columbia Law School. He was admitted to the bar of New Jersey as attorney in November, 1891, and as a counselor February, 1895, and ever since his admission as an attorney has been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of law in his native city. In the many cases in which he has been identified in all the courts of the State he has displayed marked ability, sound judgment, and broad and accurate learning, and, although a young man, he has gained a leading position at the Hudson County bar. His legal connections with important real estate matters led him finally into a close study of that subject, and as President and General Manager of the New Jersey Title and Abstract Company of Jersey City he is widely known and an acknowledged authority on land titles.

He is also an officer in various other corporations, being President of the Jersey City Golf Club, first Vice-President of the Alumni Association of Gamma Chapter of Delta Phi, a member of the Delta Phi fraternity, and a member of the Cosmos Club, of the Jersey City Chess Club, of the New Jersey State Bar Association, of the Hudson County Bar Association, of the Nyack Country Club, of the Deal Golf Club, of the New York University Alumni Association, and of St. John’s Episcopal Church of Jersey City.

Mr. Drayton was married on the 14th of October, 1896, to Sarah Conselyea Traphagen, a descendant of one of the oldest families of New Jersey. Their children are William Hood and Grace Traphagen Drayton.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 87.

NELSON JAMES HARRISON EDGE was born in Jersey City, N. J., and has long been one of the leading bankers and citizens of Hudson County. He is a member of one of the oldest families, not only of Jersey City, but of the country, his first American ancestor, Robert Edge, embarking with twenty others with their families at London, September 15, 1635, in the ship "Hopewell," Thomas Babb, Master, for New England, where they first settled. Mr. Edge's grandfather, Isaac Edge, left Brooklyn, where he had been residing from about 1797, and came to Jersey City--then Paulus Hook--in the year 1806, when there were but three houses in the place: a tavern, the barracks, and a private residence. The family has resided here ever since. In 1815 this Isaac Edge built a large windmill (the material for which he imported) near what is now the northeast corner of Green and Montgomery Streets, and which at that time was lapped by the waves of the river. The old mill was for many years a prominent landmark and still lives in the memories and traditions of the oldest inhabitants. He married Frances Ogden, of Duffield, England, and died July 7, 1851, leaving surviving him four sons: Isaac Edge, Jr., who died March 10, 1859; Benjamin O. Edge, who died Jun 11, 1871; George W. Edge, who died January 1, 1880; and Joseph G. Edge, who died May 10, 1883. He also had two daughters: Alice Edge, who died December 11, 1870, and Elizabeth Edge, who died in 1887. George W. and Elizabeth died unmarried; the others, Isaac, Benjamin O., Joseph G., and Alice, married and left families surviving them.

Isaac Edge, Jr., father of Nelson J. H. Edge, at a very early age enlisted in Captain Smith's company, Third Regiment, New Jersey Infantry, and served his country in the army during the War of 1812. He subsequently became one of the pioneer manufacturers of Jersey City and achieved a national reputation as a pyrotechnist. From his establishment for many years went forth all the displays of fireworks which were at one time annually given on the Fourth of July by all the principal cities of the country. He was also the originator of movable pieces, the first being a representation of the battle of Vera Cruz given on Boston Common. He died March 10, 1859, and left surviving hi, his ife Margaret, who died October 27, 1879; his son, Nelson J. H.; and his daughters, Mary Louisa and Frances Ogden. The latter died January 5, 1885.

Nelson J. H. Edge has been a life-long resident of Jersey City. He first attended old Public School No. 1, afterward studied at Mr. Dickinson's school in the Lyceum, and from there entered St. Francis Xavier College in New York City, where he finished his education. His early training was designed to fit him for an active business life, which he soon entered, and in which he has achieved an honorable reputation. Upon leaving college he entered the Mechanics' and Traders' Bank of Jersey City, now the First National Bank, and from there went to the Merchants' Bank of New York City as cashier's assistant. In 1887 he assisted in the organization of the Bank of New Amsterdam, of New York, and acted as its Cashier until 1896, when he retired from business. He was not long permitted remain idle, however, for in 1899 he was called to the post of Cashier of the Hudson County National Bank of New Jersey, which he accepted, and which he is now filling with characteristic energy, ability, and satisfaction.

Mr. Edge is one of the foremost bankers of Hudson County. He is a man prompt in the discharge of every obligation, imbued with the highest principles of integrity, and active and influential in promoting business and public interests. Besides discharging his duties as a financier he has taken an active part in local public affairs. He was one of the organizers of the Jersey City Free Public Library, and was appointed one of the original Trustees by Mayor Cleveland in 1889, being re-appointed by Mayor Wanser in 1893 and again by Mayor Hoos in 1898, for terms of five years each. Since his first appointment he has filled the office of Treasurer of the library. In 1896 Mr. Edge was the candidate of the "Gold" Democrats for Presidential Elector on the Palmer and Buckner ticket. He served seven years in Company F, Seventh Regiment, National Guard of the State of New York, enlisting in 1876 and acting as Paymaster the greater part of that period. Mr. Edge is a member and President of the Palma Club of Jersey City, a member of the Carteret and Cosmos Clubs and a member of the Lincoln Association, of the Jersey City Board of Trade, of the Seventh Regiment Veteran Club, of the Reform Club of New York, and of the Society of the War of 1812. He has never married.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 151-153.

THE EDSALL FAMILY are still numerous in both Bergen and Hudson Counties. The founder of the family in America was Samuel Edsall, a native of Reading in Berkshire, England, where he was born about 1630. He was a hatter by trade, and came to America early in the spring of 1655 (as is said), settling first at New Amsterdam. There, on May 29, 1655, he married (1) Jannetie Wessels, then a belle of the city, whose mother kept a tavern in Pearl Street, celebrated for burgomasters' dinners. In April, 1657, Edsall was made a small burgher. From New Amsterdam he went to Newtown, L. I. In 1663 he volunteered his services in the Esopus Indian War, and was made a Sergeant. On October 6, 1664, he, with Richard Nichols, bought of Governor Phillip Carteret a tract called Nipnichsen on the Kill Von Kull in Hudson County, containing about 400 acres. He sent over four men to Bergen that year to help fortify the "towne." In 1668, with Nicholas Varlet, he bought from the Indians 1,872 acres of land fronting on the Hudson River, bounded west by Overpeck Creek, and extending northward from the town bounds of Bergen to what is now Leonia in Bergen County. After the surrender of the Dutch to the English he took the oath of allegiance to the British king and removed from Newtown to Bergen. There was a member of Carteret's Council from 1668 to 1672. In 1668 he was appointed a commissioner to assess and collect a tax to resist invasion, and was made treasurer of the fund. He joined James Bollen and John Berry in petitioning the Dutch government that the books and papers of New Jersey be delivered to Secretary Bayard, September 12, 1673, and was one of the commissioners sent by Bergen to the same government. In 1689 he removed to New Amsterdam and became a partisan of Governor Leisler, a member of the Committee of Safety, and of the Court of Exchequer. He was caught in the net with Leisler, and put on trial for high treason, of which he was honorably acquitted. In 1699 he removed to Queens County, L. I., where he was Justice of the Peace in 1699, and where he died. He married (2) August 27, 1689, at Flatbush, L. I., Janneite Stevens, widow of Cornelius Jansen Beory, of Newton.

His issue were Ann, 1656; Judith, 1658; John, 1660; Ann; Julia; and Richard. Of these Ann married William Laurence, of New York, and Julia married Benjamin Blagge, of Plymouth, England. John settled north of his father's farm on the Hudson. Blagge and Laurence by the deed of Edsall became the owners of part of his Hudson River farm, and the remainder passed to the ownership of the De Groots, Days, Smiths, and other settlers of Bergen County. Some of Edsall's descendants are still living on portions of the farm bought from the savages by their first common ancestor.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, pages 163-164.

JAMES CHIDESTER EGBERT, D.D., for forty-two years the beloved pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of West Hoboken, N. J., and now pastor emeritus of that society, is a lineal descendant of James Egbert, who was born in 1695. His paternal ancestors were Germans, coming from Saxony or Hanover to this country several generations ago. Lewis Egbert, a member of this branch, served in the Revolutionary War. Dr. Egbert’s father, James Egbert, was the son of Enos Egbert and Sarah Lyon, both natives of New Jersey, and was born at Elizabeth, in this State, in 1801. He learned the trade of printer in the office of the Palladium of Liberty at Morristown, N. J., and moving to New York, became a partner of Mahlon Day, one of the earliest printers in that city and for many years the publisher of the weekly Bank Note List. Mr. Day, with his wife and daughter, was lost at sea on the ill-fated ship Arctic. James Egbert succeeded to the firm’s business, and for nearly fifty years conducted a large and successful printing establishment in New York on Pearl Street, opposite Frankfort. He finally retired, and died in West Hoboken, N. J., November 17, 1881, having settled there about 1867. His father, Enos, was a blacksmith and iron founder, and also a native of Elizabeth. James Egbert married Joanna Jones Chidester, daughter of James and Peninah (Guerin) Chidester, all of whom were born in New Jersey. She died in 1866.

Dr. Egbert was born in New York City on the 17th of October, 1826, and there received his education. He attended one of the public grammar schools and then taught for four years in the same institution. Afterward he continued his studies and also taught in the private school of Professor John Jason Owen, of New York, and in 1848, having received a thorough preparatory training there, entered New York University, then under the presidency of Theodore Frelinghuysen. He was graduated with honors in 1851, receiving the degree of B.A., and on March 4, 18898, the university conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity in recognition of his eminence as a minister and of his learning and standing as a scholar. In 1852 Dr. Egbert began the study of theology at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. He was graduated from that institution In April, 1855, and licensed to preach by the Third Presbytery of New York on the 11th of the same month.

On June 13, 1855, he was ordained pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of West Hoboken, N. J., and continued in that capacity for forty-two consecutive years, resigning June 13, 1897. Soon afterward he was made pastor emeritus of the congregation. This church was organized June 12, 1850, with eight members, and the church edifice was dedicated June 25, 1851. For four years Rev. Charles Parker supplied the pulpit, and through his efforts, and with the aid of Rev. William Bradford, then editor of the New York Evangelist, the church building was erected. Dr. Egbert was their first settled pastor, and faithfully and diligently discharged the duties of the trust, gaining not only the love but the confidence and affection of the entire community as well as of his own parishioners. From a very small congregation he built it up to a membership of over 435 and the Sunday school to 500 scholars, with a chapel in Jersey City of about 250 members. The society made a strong effort to retain him as their pastor, but advancing years and the evidence need of rest impelled him to resign, and the pastorate has since been under Rev. Charles Alexander Evans, a graduate of Princeton, class of 1894. As pastor emeritus, however, Dr. Egbert continues to exercise a broad and wholesome influence in the church.

He has twice been Moderator of the Presbytery of Jersey City, is a member of the Associate Alumni and of the Alumni Club of the Union Theological Seminar, and is known throughout the State and in other Presbyteries as a man of broad culture, of great learning, and of fine intellectual attainments. His sermons, many of which have been published, bear evidence of high literary skill as well as sound logic and doctrinal knowledge.

Dr. Egbert was married, August 1, 1855, to Harriet Louise Drew, daughter of George and Philinda Drew, of New York City. Their children are Annie Lake Egbert, a teacher in the New York public schools; James C. Egbert, Jr., professor of Latin in Columbia College, New York; Rev. George Drew Egbert, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Cornwall, N. Y.; and Marion Dupuy Egbert, also a teacher in the New York public schools. Two other children died in infancy.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, pages 90-91.

JAMES SHREWSBURY ERWIN, one of the leaders of the Hudson bar and Prosecutor of the Pleas for the County of Hudson, was born in Jersey City, September 5, 1857. He is the son of Matthew Erwin and Caroline A. (Gore) Erwin and a grandson of John Erwin, a native of Ireland, who came, at an early date, to New York City, where Matthew was born. On his mother’s side Mr. Erwin is a grandson of William Gore, of Deal, Kent, England, the birthplace of both William Gore and his daughter, Caroline A. One of Mr. Erwin’s maternal uncles, William Shrewsbury, was a missionary to Africa in 1835, while another, James Shrewsbury, for whom he was named, as a prominent English barrister in London. John Erwin, his paternal grandfather, was in the War of 1812, being a member of a New York company called “McQueen’s Men.”

Judge Erwin received his preliminary education in Public Schools, Nos. 1 and 3 in Jersey City. He also attended Cooper Institute, New York, and finished his studies under private tutors. Having received a thorough training, he took up the study of law in the office of Washington B. Williams, and, in February, 1881, was admitted to practice as an attorney in his native State. In February, 1884, he became a counselor. Mr. Erwin has been actively and successfully engaged in the general practice of his profession in Jersey ity since his admission in 1881, and in a large number of important cases with which he has been identified he has displayed high legal qualifications, a broad and accurate knowledge of the law, and great skill and ability. He has established a reputation as a lawyer and advocate.

In 1890 Mr. Erwin represented his district in the General Assembly of New Jersey, and there magnified an already high reputation. He served as District Court Judge from January 26, 1897, to February 27, 1898, when he resigned on his acceptance of the office of Prosecutor of the Pleas of Hudson County. His term expires in 1903. Judge Erwin is a prominent, progressive, and public spirited citizen, a man of broad attainments, and a member of the Union League of Jersey City, of the Minkakwa Club, of the Royal Arcanum, of the Loyal Additional Royal Arcanum, of Bayview Lodge, No. 146, Free and Accepted Masons, of Jersey City, and of Amity Chapter, No. 31, Royal Arch Masons, of Bayonne, N. J.

November 22, 1882, Judge Erwin married Martha J. Robinson, and their children are Margaret J., Martha, James R., and Hobart G. Erwin.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, pages 108-109.

EDWARD EVERSON, of West Hoboken, N. J., who has been associated with the Delaware Coal and Canal Company ever since 1863, was born at Homestead, North Bergen, Hudson County, January 14, 1840. His father, Benjamin Everson, was born at Pompton Plains, N. J. His mother’s maiden name was Sarah Riker. Mr. Everson is of Holland lineage, being descended from the Evertsens who settled in New York two centuries ago.

He received his education in the public schools of North Bergen, and at the tender age of eleven began working on a farm in Bergen County. Thrown upon his own resources at that age, he has ever since depended upon himself. He followed farming until he had reached the age of seventeen, when he entered upon the trade of gold beating, which he followed for a year and a half. He then entered the employ of Edward Ackerman as an apprentice at the blacksmith trade, continuing in that capacity until 1862. In that year be enlisted in Company E, Eighth New York Volunteer Militia, for three months, and at the expiration of his term of enlistment was honorably discharged. He then entered the service of the Federal Government at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where he remained for a short time, and in 1863 he associated himself with the Delaware Coal and Canal Company, with which he has ever since remained. During his long and active service of over thirty-three years in the employ of this corporation. Mr. Everson has discharged every duty with singular fidelity and great satisfaction, and from the first has enjoyed the respect and confidence of both employers and associates. He is in the fullest sense a self-made man, having depended entirely upon himself since the early age of eleven years.

Mr. Everson is an ardent and consistent Republican, a member of the Reformed Church, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In July, 1863, he married Miss Ellen Gotchuns (deceased), by whom he had three children: Edward, Jr. (deceased), Eliza Ann (deceased); and Maud Alice, who resides with her father.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 129.